411 Movies Roundtable: May 2008 Part 1

Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 05.02.2008

The 411 staff takes a look back at the month that was, and discusses the upcoming big releases in May!

Welcome to the monthly 411 Movies Roundtable. It's the beginning of the summer movie season, and naturally all moviegoers are getting themselves psyched up wondering which summer blockbusters will be the biggest, best, boldest and, er, bollocks-est. Personally, I'm just looking forward to the annual excuse for a three-month popcorn binge. This month, Marvel's Iron Man powers his way on to the big screen, the Wachowskis return with their take on a cult hit, and we bear witness to the much-heralded rebirth of INDIANA F'N JONES, baby. Our picture theme this month celebrates the screen debut of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, with some other famous princes from the world of movie and TV.

Let's get down to business...

Introducing this month's participants:

DVD reviewer and occasional Dungeonmaster, "The Vile One" Jeffrey Harris!

411 newcomer, movie reviewer Shawn Lealos!

From "Furious on Film" and "The Furious Flashbacks", Arnold Furious!

From 411 Games, author of "The Game Plan" James McGee!

Movie reviewer and recent guest-Csonka on 411 Wrestling's "4 R's", Jeremy Thomas!

Our resident B-movie expert, Bryan Kristopowitz!

A big "top five" for Trevor Snyder!

Movie reviewer Jerome Cusson!

From "Casting Call", Jason Chamberlain!

...and I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield!

The Month That Was

Jeffrey Harris

Biggest Winner of the Month: Horton Hears A Who - Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox with another big CG animated hit, and unquestionably the biggest hit of the year so far, but that is bound to change soon.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Stop Loss - More heavy-handed Hollywood anti-war, anti-military trash that no one wants to see.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Edgar Wright signs on to do two movies, one of which will be his third collaboration with Simon Pegg. No matter what trash is to come, we can always expect fantastic, consistent work from Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and co.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and it most definitely delivered as a fantastic R-rated, relationship comedy.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Appleseed: Ex Machina, the sequel to the 2004 CG anime was finally released here in the States in excellent form from Warner Brothers. The involvement with producer John Woo was extremely exaggerated, but we got a much stronger movie based on Masamune Shirow's Appleseed manga. Hopefully for the third movie and series it will do an even better job of incorporating Shirow's sense of humor as well as the more interesting parts of the Briareos/Deunan relationship which Ex Machina definitely left room for improvement in. Beowulf can suck it, because Briareos is where it is at.

Classic Movie of the Month: Ben-Hur, finally watched it for the first time all the way through after the passing of the late, great Charlton Heston, and boy what an experience it was. Simply a powerful, epic movie unlike any other. Michael Moore can suck it as well.

Movie Quote of the Month: "When life gives you lemons, just say 'Fuck the lemons,' and bail."

Shawn Lealos

Biggest Winner of the Month: 21 - technically, it came out in March, but surprisingly overcame Horton Hears a Who to take the number one spot that week and then held onto that spot the following week, beating the underperforming horror film The Ruins and the George Clooney disappointment Leatherheads (see below). Now, a month old, it continues to perform well, more than doubling its budget and showing it might have the legs to match last year's surprise success, Disturbia. Whether it continues to show the chops to keep running remains to be seen, but all things considered, April was a money month for the Las Vegas sleeper.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Leatherheads. George Clooney, while still one of the most popular actors on the planet, can't seem to catch a break with his directorial features. While this film looked to be a call back to the classic screwball comedies of Preston Sturges and Howard Hawks, it has been called uninspiring and, most damaging for this genre – slow. The resulting box office made this slip fatal, earning under $30 million worldwide in its first three weeks, making the chances of reaching its budget ($58 million) unlikely. Hopefully, this won't hurt Clooney's chances of directing future projects, as he has delivered great films such as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck prior to this misstep.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: The Edward Norton versus Marvel Studios conflict. We all know the story of Edward Norton and American History X. Norton flexed his muscles and pushed director Tony Kaye right out of the picture. He then re-edited the picture in his image, with Kaye demanding he be credited as Humpty Dumpty since it was not the version of the movie he approved of. Now, Norton is at it again. It all started with Norton crying that if he did not get his way in the editing room on The Hulk, he would not help promote the movie. This is, of course, after he used his clout to re-write the script himself. He then responded in a letter to Entertainment Weekly where he called the controversy "collaboration" and stated everyone only wanted to release the best movie possible. Then news quickly came that Marvel had won the right to the final cut, and promises a faster, leaner movie. I am curious as to whether the movie will actually be anywhere near as entertaining as the soap opera leading up to its release.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: It's Iron Man versus Indiana Jones for me. I want to see Iron Man more, I think, because of Robert Downey Jr. and the promise of some fairly awesome CGI effects. However, as someone who was eleven when Raiders of the Lost Ark hit theaters, I have grown up on Indiana Jones. I have the vintage poster from that original flick on my stairwell. It is just too close to call, and I'm going to be a wuss and call it a tie.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Youth Without Youth. It has been too long since we have had a Francis Ford Coppola release to look forward to. In May, we get the DVD of his first film since the underrated The Rainmaker. Coppola stated that he wants to "start over" in his career and that he is taking this next stage as if he is a new filmmaker, experimenting as he goes. For lovers of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, that's not the best news, but he is still one of the greatest filmmakers living and this release is an event I am looking forward to.

Classic Movie of the Month: Gimme Shelter - with the underperforming Shine a Light still in our rear-view mirror, it may be time to revisit one of the greatest concert documentaries of all time. Maybe better known as the concert where The Hell's Angels killed a man while serving as security, it actually serves as a slice of time feature that examines the biggest band in the land at the time and their reaction to the tragedy that befell them that evening. The Maysles brothers constructed a documentary that never chose a side, only showing the viewers what happened, and allowing them to come to their own decision. It is an almost perfect documentary of the type that rarely gets made anymore.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Do the department a favor and wash your mouth out with buckshot." – Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), Street Kings

Arnold Furious

Biggest Winner of the Month: Robert Luketic. Previously known as the director of Legally Blonde and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton he scored big this month with 21. Card playing is cool right now with poker tournaments all over the place and these guys struck while the iron was hot. It doubled its budget in gross and looks set to be one of the big success stories so far this year. Of course Horton Hears a Who did even better but I had that as my winner last month.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Al Pacino. 88 Minutes was a disaster. Poorly received by critics (it's currently 6% fresh at RottenTomatoes) and then bombed at the box office. Must be worrying for Pacino who's never really had any major failures on his record. Well, perhaps Dick Tracy but Warren Beatty took the flak for that one. He's staring failure in the face this month. I don't think it'll effect his reputation THAT much though because it IS Al Pacino.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Wesley Snipes gets 3 years for tax evasion. Celebrities just don't go to jail. Vince Neil killed someone and he only got 30 days! What with this and Paris Hilton's recent stint inside perhaps the era of big stars just getting away with it because they're famous is over.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Indy. Although I'm also a massive Ironman fan. So I'm torn but Indy is more important than the majority of films because Raiders was the best film of the entire 1980's. I loved Last Crusade too. I'll be heading to the cinema for that one, hopefully.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Err…let's say Charlie Wilson's War. Why not?

Classic Movie of the Month: The Pink Panther (1963). I just started watching the whole Clouseau series as part of "Furious on Film" and I'd forgotten that in the original film it was David Niven who was the star not Peter Sellers but he so nailed the Clouseau role that all the sequels were dedicated to his comedy genius.

Movie Quote of the Month: "When I went on my first zsrafari... frazari... wild animal hunt." – Claudia Cardinale, drunk on champagne, in The Pink Panther.

James McGee

Biggest Winner of the Month: All of us older Harry Potter fans, because Emma Watson finally turned 18. Now we don't have to feel creepy when we say she's hot.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Keeping with the pervert theme, I'll go with Marilyn Monroe. Her sex tape sold for 1.5 million dollars. While the buyer says he will not "make a Paris Hilton out of her," by releasing the tape, the poor girl's dignity still took a posthumous hit.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: I guess I'll go with all this ballyhoo over The Incredible Hulk, though I honestly think its been blown out of proportion. Everyone's saying something different, but the current story is that "we're all just fine, no big deal." Look, I don't think it surprises anyone that Ed Norton is an arrogant control freak, but he's also very talented. Personally, the Hulk doesn't interest me nearly as much as his relationship with Bruce Banner, so if Norton can help strike a good balance between action and drama, more power to him.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: There are so many potential blockbusters (and potentially awesome movies) this month its crazy. However, considering I've been waiting for a new Indiana Jones flick since 1989, it's pretty easy to tag Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as my most anticipated movie. If it sucks, I'll probably cry for a month.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Gee, for a month full of big theatrical releases, nothing on the home-front really tickles my fancy. Donate this month's DVD budget to the humane society instead. You'll feel good about yourself.

Classic Movie of the Month: Take some time to reacquaint yourself with Indy by watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade back-to-back-to-back.

Movie Quote of the Month: "There are two types of people in this world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't" - What About Bob?

Jeremy Thomas

Biggest Winner of the Month: Jim Sturgess. After garnering critical accolades for Across the Universe, Sturgess's next film was April's 21, which is by far the sleeper hit of the month. Not given much of a chance by most, it's garnered almost $70 million thus far and will probably end up around 75 or so. A great sign of things to come for the young man.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Al Pacino. 88 Minutes, while not the horrible movie it's being billed as, is a critical and commercial flop, and Pacino's coming out looking like he's got egg on his face. I'm a huge Pacino fan, and am hoping that his Righteous Kill pairing with De Niro is a hell of a lot better then this one.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: It's official: Guillermo Del Toro is directing The Hobbit. For those who are fans of The Lord of the Rings, this is incredible news. We already know Jackson wouldn't be, so we needed a visionary director who could work with Jackson (who will still be overseeing as producer), and Del Toro is totally that man. I'm really excited to see what the guy who made Pan's Labyrinth can do with this franchise.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: The billionaire weapons designer with a bum ticker just manages to trump the artifact-seeker with the fedora and the bullwhip. That's purely because the trailers for Iron Man turn me into a giddy fanboy more than Indiana Jones.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: I didn't get a chance to see I'm Not There during its theatrical run. Being a Dylan fan, I'm very interested to see how it turned out. The concept was great, and the performances are supposedly incredible.

Classic Movie of the Month: In honor of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this month's classic movie is the one that started it all, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harrison Ford, the Ark of the Covenant, monkeys, Nazis, snakes, and a man getting pulped by a propeller. What else could you possibly want in a movie?

Movie Quote of the Month: "Dr. Jones. Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away." Belloq (Paul Freeman), Raiders of the Lost Ark

Bryan Kristopowitz

Biggest Winner of the Month: Jet Li and Jackie Chan, as their first ever team up movie, The Forbidden Kingdom, opened at #1. Yes, it was something martial arts movie nerds have been waiting for for years, and they obviously would have shown up at the box office regardless, but what about the rest of the movie-going audience? They did, and Jet and Jackie get to light up big cigars.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Wesley Snipes. He's going to jail for three years for failing to pay his taxes. That's gotta suck.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Guillermo Del Toro signing on to do The Hobbit movies. It'll be interesting to see how much of his own stuff he'll put into the cinematic world created by Peter Jackson. I can't imagine he'll deviate all that much from what was started by Jackson, because the nerd fanbase would probably have a massive hairy if he did. I can't wait.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Iron Man, obviously. Speed Racer looks like a nifty summer movie. Redbelt looks awesome. And the fourth Indiana Jones adventure will be a must see, no question. And maybe Postal if it actually ends up getting released.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Rambo, the fourth, well, Rambo movie, will be out, as well as a hip and edgy boxed set of the four movies already made. And The Three Stooges Collection: Vol. 2 1937-1939. It's the Stooges, how could you not want to partake?

Classic Movie of the Month: Captain America (1990): This, of course, is the low budget "Captain America" movie directed by Albert Pyun and starring Matt Salinger as Steve Rogers aka Cap. Despite its lack of funding for big action set pieces, Pyun manages to make an interesting movie that, at least, captures some of the ooh ah that makes Cap the hero that we all know and love. Scott Paulin did a great job as the Red Skull, Ronny "Bogomil" Cox was a great President, Ned Beatty was a great reporter and Captain America fan, and an absolutely hilarious performance by Darren McGavin as a corrupt American general. I don't think it's out on DVD yet, but you can probably find it on used VHS or on TV. It's worth checking out at least once.

Movie Quote of the Month: Reggie: Jack, tell me a story.

Jack: Fuck you!

Reggie: Oh, that's one of my favorites."

Reggie Hammond and Detective Jack Cates- Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte- 48 Hrs (1982)

Trevor Snyder

Biggest Winner of the Month: As always, April wasn't the most newsworthy month for movies, but you gotta give it up for the little movie that could, 21. I don't think anyone was expecting this flick to have the legs it did. It will be interesting now to see if we get a number of similar smaller-budget gambling movies trying to replicate its success.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Wesley Snipes. I guess Snipes – during his time at Celebrity Academy – missed the "Hire A Lawyer Who Can Get You Out Of Anything" class. Seriously, I'm so used to famous folks getting a slap on the wrist for just about anything, that thinking of Snipes spending three years in the pokie is actually pretty shocking. Still, I won't be surprised if he ends up spending little to none of that time actually in prison.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: The official announcement of Guillermo Del Toro directing The Hobbit (and the second "bridging" film) was something we've all known was coming, but it still felt good to go online and finally see that it was a done deal. Del Toro is just about the only guy the fans could accept taking over this franchise from Peter Jackson, and with Jackson still involved as a producer, I think it's safe to say that we're all counting down the days on this one now.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: As cool as Speed Racer looks, and as much of a nostalgic kick Indiana Jones will probably be, you can't really top Iron Man for pure fanboy excitement, and I gladly include myself in along with that hype.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: I feel like I've bought a few too many DVDs lately, so it's nice to see that May is relatively light on releases I absolutely need to pick up. That being said, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie finally gets its long-awaited DVD re-release, and the special edition of Serial Mom (John Waters' best flick, in my opinion) looks pretty good, too.

Classic Movie of the Month: I don't know if it would already be considered a "classic," but I finally saw The Machinist recently, and holy crap…what a great film. Sure, it is a little tough to watch the physical transformation Christian Bale went through (trust me – watching this movie will make you want to eat something for the guy), but the film's intriguing "Hitchcock meets David Lynch" tone more than makes up for any disgust you might feel at seeing Bale's rib-cage nearly burst through his skin.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Don't forget your post-its!" – Christian Bale, in The Machinist. Not really a super-memorable quote, I admit, but it's something of an inside joke between me and my friends.

Jerome Cusson

Biggest Winner of the Month: Judd Apatow- He's done it again with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Maybe it wasn't the biggest box office smash, but he's created a really good comedy with a lot of heart by resisting the urge to just put out schlock. If only he could have learned this mistake before attaching his name with Drillbit Taylor. Still, even the best hitters strike out once in a while.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Al Pacino - I almost feel sorry for the guy. He just can't seem to make a decent movie or attach himself to a decent script anymore. It's just really sad to see an iconic actor struggle like this. 88 Minutes was not very good and barely had an box office. A very sad situation for someone who is considered one of the greatest actors of all time. I hope he can redeem himself in the new Bond film.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Imagine a show that's been on the air for fifteen years, has produced its fair share of stars and produced some of the most gripping hours of television. The news that ER will meet its demise next year was met with a whole lot of "That show is still on the air?" For a show that started the career of George Clooney, you'd think this show could get a little bit more respect. With more time, I'd probably start reviewing this show to remind people of how it was and how good it can still be.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. If I was more of an Iron Man fan, that would be number one. I still want to see both, but the fact of the matter is I want to see if Harrison Ford can pull it off one more time. I'm excited to see this adventure and am hopeful it returns both Ford and director Steven Spielberg to form.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Notice it says DVD release. I'm gonna say Wrestlemania 24. It's got the retirement match of Ric F'n Flair on it, plus a great card surrounding it. All my money this month is going to see movies and buy this DVD anyway so why recommend something else?

Classic Movie of the Month: In honor of Indiana Jones, I'll say Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Sean Connery was fantastic as Harry Jones and this movie keeps getting better and better the more times I watch it.

Movie Quote of the Month: Indiana: "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage." - Of course this is from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Jason Chamberlain

Biggest Winner of the Month: Jet Li and Jackie Chan. They finally teamed up and delivered a really enjoyable movie with great action. Let's see more from this team!

Biggest Loser of the Month: Wesley Snipes. What happened man?

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Ian McKellen has confirmed he'll back as Gandalf for the Hobbit films. Excellent!

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: This will be a great month for movies, but I've got to go with Indiana Jones. As blasts from the past go, you can't get any better than Harrison Ford donning the fedora and cracking the whip once more!

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: I'm going with the third season of The Muppet Show. Kermit, Fozzy Bear, Bunson Honey Dew, Swedish Chef, Statler and Waldorf.... you can't beat that lineup!

Classic Movie of the Month: Raiders of the Lost Ark – This month, you need to go back and experience Indy's adventures from the start, starting with his first adventure for the Ark of the Covenant. Is there a better adventure movie out there? I don't think so.

Movie Quote of the Month: "It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine" – Wayne Campbell's repeated mantra as he stares longingly at ‘Excalibur', a Fender Strat at the local guitar shop.

Owain J. Brimfield

Biggest Winner of the Month: The Terminator franchise. With The Sarah Connor Chronicles getting renewed for another season and The Future Begins having quietly assembled a rock-solid cast (to hopefully counteract McG's worst excesses), the only thing we're missing is a resurrection of Arnie's T-800 to round off the awesome.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Anyone who was expecting the upcoming second X-Files movie to be taken seriously by audiences new to the franchise. I mean, I Want to Believe? That's a legitimately awful title, and while I'm still confident the movie itself will be satisfying, I'm unsure how Chris Carter expects to attract a new generation of fans for the franchise with a title that sounds like a straight-to-video teen fulfill-your-dreams-type flick.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Guillermo Del Toro signing on for The Hobbit. This is great news for fantasy fans, firstly because there were times that everyone thought the project was going to go under, and secondly because the team of Del Toro and Jackson is quintessentially tailor-made for a fantasy epic. I'm hugely anticipating this film now, even though there's yet to be a really convincing CG dragon evidenced anywhere. Smaug is essential, dammit!

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Like many others, it's a 50/50 toss up between Iron Man and Indiana Jones. However, use of Black Sabbath in a movie's trailer is going to sell me on it every time. Sorry Indy. I genuinely can't remember the last summer season I was actually excited about more than one release in a given month, so this is quite a pleasing experience.

Classic Movie of the Month: Grave of the Fireflies, Miyazaki's sentimental (in a good way) reflection on the Japanese experiences of war. Although the DVD copy I got hold have is scratched to all hell, so I didn't actually get to see the entire movie, what I did catch a glimpse of has encouraged me to track this down. At times reminiscent of Raymond Briggs' When the Wind Blows, and just as tear-jerking.

Movie Quote of the Month: Henry Jones: "I didn't know you could fly a plane!" / Indiana Jones: "Fly, yes. Land, no." - Indy buckles some more swash in The Last Crusade.


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